Insect glycerol transporters evolved by functional co-option and gene replacement

Roderick Nigel Finn (), François Chauvigné, Jon Anders Stavang, Xavier Belles and Joan Cerdà ()
Additional contact information
Roderick Nigel Finn: Bergen High Technology Center, University of Bergen
François Chauvigné: Bergen High Technology Center, University of Bergen
Jon Anders Stavang: Bergen High Technology Center, University of Bergen
Xavier Belles: Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Joan Cerdà: Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)-Institut de Ciències del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Transmembrane glycerol transport is typically facilitated by aquaglyceroporins in Prokaryota and Eukaryota. In holometabolan insects however, aquaglyceroporins are absent, yet several species possess polyol permeable aquaporins. It thus remains unknown how glycerol transport evolved in the Holometabola. By combining phylogenetic and functional studies, here we show that a more efficient form of glycerol transporter related to the water-selective channel AQP4 specifically evolved and multiplied in the insect lineage, resulting in the replacement of the ancestral branch of aquaglyceroporins in holometabolan insects. To recapitulate this evolutionary process, we generate specific mutants in distantly related insect aquaporins and human AQP4 and show that a single mutation in the selectivity filter converted a water-selective channel into a glycerol transporter at the root of the crown clade of hexapod insects. Integration of phanerozoic climate models suggests that these events were associated with the emergence of complete metamorphosis and the unparalleled radiation of insects.

Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms8814 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms8814

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8814

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().